4 months old

Mackenzie,

You are 4 months old!!! Woo hoo!  I love celebrating your major 'milestones' even if its just your month to month updates.  This past month you have changed so much.  Probably the most outward noticeable change since birth.

You now weight 14 pounds 2 ounces and are 26 inches long.  You are tall for your age but right on that 50% marker for your weight.  Your daily schedule is becoming very routine now!  You are up around 7 (sometimes 6:30 - which I think it a bit early!) you then eat every three hours on the dot!  You eat 5 ounces at 7:30, 10:30, 1:30, 4:30 and then at bed time about 7/7:30. You started sleeping on your belly once you could roll over.  You are now taking hour to two hour naps!  You nap three times a day and maybe take a fourth nap before bedtime, but its usually shorter.  Your bedtime routine is the same since you were about 2 months old but now we take baths more often.  We start bath time at 6:45 then we read a book, turn on your music and sound machine and get in your zippy :)  Then you have your bottle and go to bed!  You then are sleeping soundly till about 1 or 2 or 3 that middle of the night feeding is still between 1 - 3!  But after that you sleep till morning :)  I can't imagine doing 3 or more feedings a night like we used to!  All of a sudden about 2 weeks ago we fed you at bedtime and you lasted till the middle of the night so we dropped the "dream feed".  We did the dream feed to fill you up before we went to bed but now you can last about 6 hours which is GREAT!

You rolled over about 2 weeks ago also - before you were even 4 months old!  You can now roll back and forth since you rolled from tummy to back when you were 8 weeks old :)  You started to giggle a couple weeks ago but its still very hard to get a little one out of you.  I hope they come more frequently as you get bigger.  You are so awake and always looking around interested in the world around you.  I try to at least get out of the house once a day with you for a walk or a quick trip to target/dry cleaners/Walgreens.  It is still a little hard to leave since your up for about 90 minutes before your next nap!  At night time you are up the longest from your last nap at 4:30/5 till bedtime at 7.  Even then sometimes you get a bit cranky.

You have started stranger danger even more now (which the pediatrician got to witness for your whole 4 month appointment).  She said it was a bit early but you've been doing it for weeks!  If you don't see someone for a while when you see then again you cry.  People understand though - you are used to mommy and daddy the most.

You still love Sophie the giraffe and you LOVE your doll that daddy has named Rebekah (ask me why later).  You like when mommy sings and gives you kisses.  Everything goes in your mouth... everything so we have to be careful what you can grab.  You have a few other toys like rattles and books.  We have a exersaucer but you are still too tiny.  Your tall but your feet don't quite hit the bottom on your toes yet.  One foot can but the other can't and your lopsided lol I can't wait to have you try that and LIKE it.  You are babbling more now and of course I'm saying mama and dada to you multiple times a day.

The doctor said you can start eating solids now but I am going to wait till your closer to 6 months to give your body a chance to grow and develop (you've only been on this earth for 4 months... food can wait!).  I am buying a baby food maker so I can make your own food and try my best to help you grow healthy :)

You have beautiful blue eyes that everyone comments on when they see you!  Your hair is growing in lighter but we still cannot tell if it will be blonde or not.  Your wearing 6 month onesies and dresses.  You are still in 3 month pants and jackets.  Don't grow too quickly little mickey.  We love you very much and you are a JOY to have in our lives.  This next month I'm sure will go by quick and so many more changes will come.

Love,

Mommy

The day I have been waiting for...

... its been a hard 16.5 weeks!  Don't get me wrong, I would never change them for a minute!  It has been such a learning experience and has caused both Mike and I to grow closer to each other and to rely more on the Lord and prayer.  Believe me when I say last week I was at my wits end... I was on my knees praying for SOMETHING to help Mackenzie sleep.  She has taken 45 minute (or less) naps since she has been about 3 weeks old.  She has been active since day 1 - always looking around, kicking and interested!  I must have read 4+ books, 25+ blogs and googles "how to get past the 40 minute intruder" at least 100+ times.

At long last Mackenzie out grew her swaddle, last week we woke up at 2:30am to her crying so I looked at the monitor and AH! she was on her STOMACH.  I ran to her and flipped her over and thats when the 'no more swaddle' rule started.  She had been trying to roll for a couple weeks but had been unsuccessful... with her arms down it made it easier for her to flip.  So we began the no swaddle... with 1 or 2 nights of waking up every 20, 30, 40 minutes it was bad... she hated the swaddle but it helped her sleep so much.  I called the pediatrician and she said that we could just begin to not swaddle and let her cry a little bit.  Since we had tried pretty much all other methods we agreed and started.  This happened last Thursday.. night one she cried for 30 minutes (so sad), night two Kyla got to put her to bed and she cried again for 30 minutes, night three Nana Kathy got to put her to bed and she cried for 6 minutes... night four was last night and she cried for 5 minutes!

This is the best part...... today Mackenzie took three naps and they were all over an hour and a half.  This is the day I had looked forward to, googled, prayed about, talked about, cried about.... for the past two months!  I am so overjoyed that she is sleeping SO much better.  She can sleep in just her onesie, a sleep sack or her zippy!  My favorite is the zippy because she can still use her arms and roll but they are covered and she can suck her hand through the fabric AND she can't scratch her face!!!

From David Crowders song, My Beloved "I see the light, oh thank you God I see the light!"  There is always light at the end of the tunnel no matter how dark, how depressing, how long, how sad or frustrating..
Now I know not everyday will go this way, there will be weeks of her growth spurts, fussy times, teething and who knows what else but its days like today I can thank God and remember that he does answer prayer, he does come through, its just on HIS timing and in HIS way.

Last year at this time we had just found out that we conceived Mackenzie.  It is amazing how much can change in just 1 year!  It was about this time two years ago we had conceived and did not yet know we would lose the baby.. we thank God for Mackenzie daily and live in expectation that He answers prayers and loves us beyond our comprehension.  There is no place in Him that we cannot find peace.

Mackenzie in her new cowgirl Zippy!

Love, Alisha & Mackenzie